Indian ride-sharing giant Ola is moving into New Zealand

The $5 billion Indian ridesharing app Ola has turned its attention to New Zealand after its rapid expansion across Australia over the last six month, and will launch in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

The Uber rival, which is now in seven Australia cities, launched in the UK last month, and has appointed UrbanSherpa founder Brian Dewil as Ola’s New Zealand country manager.

The Indian startup, founded in 2011, is backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent and Japanese multinational Softbank, and has been pushing hard for market share in Australia, offering discounted rides to customers and lower commissions for drivers, including an introductory rate of 9%.

Co-Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said: “We see a real opportunity in New Zealand to provide a fair alternative in the rideshare space for both customers and drivers.”

While the business hasn’t yet set a date for services in the three New Zealand cities, it’s now looking for drivers to sign up and claims it now has 50,000 registered drivers in Australia.